Vapour generators

ABSTRACT

A vapor generator system ( 1, 101 ) for an IMS ( 4, 104 ) or other apparatus has a chamber ( 9, 109 ) in which vapor is produced. A fan or other flow generator ( 6, 106 ) is connected to an inlet ( 8, 108 ) of the vapor chamber ( 9, 109 ) and its outlet ( 13, 113 ) is connected to an adsorbent passage ( 14, 114 ), such as formed by a bore through a block ( 15 ) of carbon. When the fan ( 6, 106 ) is on gas flows through the vapor chamber ( 9, 109 ) and the adsorbent passage ( 14, 114 ) to the IMS ( 4, 104 ) or other outlet, with little vapor being adsorbed in the passage. When the fan ( 6, 106 ) is off, any vapor molecules that escape to the adsorbent passage ( 14, 114 ) do so at a low rate such that substantially all is adsorbed and no vapor escapes.

This invention relates to vapour generators of the kind including achamber in which a vapour is produced, an inlet by which gas can enterthe chamber, and a chamber outlet by which vapour can flow out of thechamber.

There are many applications where it is necessary to generate vapour.For example, ion mobility spectrometers and other detectors ofteninclude a vapour generator to supply a dopant chemical to the equipment.Vapour generators can also be used to supply a test chemical for use intesting or calibrating a detector, a filter or other equipment. In someapplications it is important to be able to switch the vapour generatoron and off rapidly and to prevent leakage when the detector is off. Inan IMS system this would enable rapid switching between different dopingconditions, such as different levels of dopant or different dopantsubstances. It could also enable different regions of IMS apparatus tobe doped differently by ensuring there was no leakage to undoped regionsof the apparatus when the apparatus is switched off.

One technique of reducing leakage of vapour has been employed in anexplosives detector produced by Graseby Dynamics Limited of Watford,England under the PD5 name. In this, a container of adsorbent materialis connected at an outlet of a vapour generator via a T-junction. Whenthe vapour generator is off and there is a nominal zero flow, some ofthe residual vapour produced passes via one arm of the T-junction to theadsorbent material. When the generator is turned on, the gas flowthrough it rises high enough to ensure that most of the vapour iscarried through the other arm of the T-junction to the outlet. Theproblem with this arrangement is that the vapour can easily by-pass theadsorbent material leading to a relatively low adsorption efficiency andrelatively high levels of escaped vapour.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an alternativevapour generator, detection system and method of generating vapour.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided avapour generator of the above-specified kind, characterised in that thegenerator includes a vapour-adsorbent passage extending from the chamberoutlet such that all gas and vapour flowing from the chamber outletflows through the vapour-adsorbent passage and such that, when no gas iscaused to flow through the generator, vapour produced in the chamberflows to the passage and is adsorbed at a rate that ensuressubstantially no vapour passes as far as the generator outlet but, whengas is caused to flow through the generator, the vapour is carriedthrough the passage at a rate sufficiently high to ensure a flow ofvapour from the generator outlet.

The passage may be provided through an adsorbent material, such as asintered material. Alternatively, the passage may be provided by avapour-permeable passage extending through adsorbent means, which mayinclude a chamber containing a adsorbent material, such as includingcharcoal. The vapour-permeable passage may be provided byvapour-permeable tubing, such as of an elastomer. The vapour generatorpreferably includes an airflow generator connected with the inlet of thevapour chamber. The airflow generator may be a fan of blower.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided adetection system including detection apparatus and a vapour generatoraccording to the above one aspect of the invention arranged to supplyvapour to the detection apparatus.

The detection apparatus may include an IMS or gas chromatographyinstrument.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provideda method of controlling the production of vapour, including the steps ofcausing a flow of gas through a vapour source to a vapour-adsorbentpassage at a rate sufficient to ensure that vapour flows out of thepassage, and terminating the flow of gas such that any vapour from thesource entering the passage is adsorbed thereby at a rate sufficient toensure that substantially no vapour flows out of the passage.

A system of a vapour generator for use in supplying vapour to an IMSdetector will now be described, by way of example, with reference to theaccompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 shows the system schematically; and

FIG. 2 shows a modified system schematically.

With reference first to FIG. 1, the vapour generator 1 has an air inlet2 and a vapour outlet 3 connected to an inlet of an IMS detector 4. Thevapour generator 1 is used to provide a readily controllable supply of adopant vapour to the IMS 4 and, it will be appreciated that thegenerator would normally be contained within the same housing as theIMS. The vapour generator could be used in conjunction with otherdetectors such as gas chromatography instruments. The vapour generatorcould also be used for calibration purposes within the instrument.

The generator 1 has a airflow generator 6 in the form of a fan, bloweror the like connected at the inlet 2. This can be switched on or off toprovide a flow of air to its outlet 7 as desired. The airflow generator6 could include various filters or other devices to remove contaminantsand water vapour from atmospheric air before this is supplied to theoutlet 7. Alternative gas flow generators could be used, such asprovided by a container of compressed gas, which need not be air.

The outlet 7 of the airflow generator 6 connects with the inlet 8 at oneend of a vapour chamber 9. The vapour chamber 9 may take many differentforms but, in this example, comprises a housing 10 containing a wicking,adsorbent material 11 soaked with a compound in its liquid phase, suchas acetone, so that the space 12 above the material is filled with thevapour of the liquid at its saturated vapour pressure at the ambienttemperature. The vapour chamber 9 has an outlet 13 at its opposite endthrough which vapour and air can flow out of the chamber.Vapour-producing substances other than acetone could be used.

The vapour chamber outlet 13 connects with one end of a vapour-adsorbentpassage 14. In the present example, this passage 14 is provided by amachined bore or slot through a block 15 of carbon or a sinteredmaterial, such as a molecular sieve material, which could be of zeoliteas described in PCT/GB06/001440. Alternatively, the passage through theblock could be formed by moulding the block about a core pin that issubsequently removed to leave a bore or passage through the block. Thematerial of the block is adsorbent of the acetone vapour. The materialitself could be adsorbent, such as of carbon, or the material itselfcould be non-adsorbent but could be rendered adsorbent by impregnationwith a suitable substance. In this way, acetone vapour is adsorbed bythe block at all locations along the passage. The outlet end of thepassage 14 connects with the vapour outlet 3.

When the vapour generator 1 is off, that is, when no flow of vapour isneeded, the airflow generator 6 remains unenergised so that there is noflow of air through the vapour chamber 9 and the adsorbent passage 14.The passage 14 is, however, open to the interior 12 of the vapourchamber 9 so some vapour will drift into the tube. As it does so, itdiffuses into the block 15 and is adsorbed therein. The bore, length,porosity and nature of the material of the block 15 are chosen suchthat, under zero flow conditions, the amount of vapour that escapes fromthe outlet end of the passage 14 is insignificant in the context of theapplication in which the vapour generator is used. In the presentexample, where the vapour generator is used as a dopant source in an IMSsystem 4, the vapour dopant flow in the off state is arranged to be notsufficient to produce any noticeable dopant ion peak in the IMSapparatus.

The generator 1 is turned on to produce a flow of vapour at its outlet 3by turning on the airflow generator 6 to produce a flow of air into theinlet 8 of the vapour chamber 9. This flow collects the vapour producedin the vapour chamber 9 and pushes it through the outlet 13 and into thepassage 14. The flow velocity in the passage 14 is chosen such that theresidence time of the collected vapour in the passage is sufficientlylow that little is adsorbed into the block material. Thus, a largeproportion of the vapour arrives at the open, outlet end of the passage14 and at the outlet 3 of the generator and is delivered to the IMSapparatus 4. This flow can be continuous or pulsed.

The vapour generator 1 is able to turn off vapour flow very rapidly whennot required, such that its vapour does not leak out at a significantrate. In an IMS system, this effectively prevents dopant vapour fromentering the IMS apparatus when the system is turned off and is notpowered. This can enable selected regions of IMS apparatus to be dopedwith a reduced risk that dopant will leak to undoped regions when theapparatus is turned off. In conventional systems, gas flow through theIMS apparatus can keep undoped regions free of dopant when the apparatusis powered but, when not powered, the gas flow ceases and any slightleakage of dopant will contaminate all regions of the apparatus. Thishas previously made it very difficult to dope different regions of IMSapparatus differently except where the apparatus is continuouslypowered.

The generator could include alternative means for adsorbing the vapour.FIG. 2 shows an alternative arrangement in which components equivalentto those in the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 have been given the samereference numerals with the addition of 100.

The generator 101 has the same airflow generator 106 and vapour chamber109 as in the arrangement of FIG. 1. Instead of a block of adsorbentmaterial, an adsorbent passage 114 is provided by a length of a smallbore tube of an elastomeric plastics such as silicone rubber. The tube114 is approximately 100 mm long with an external diameter ofapproximately 1 mm and an internal diameter of approximately 0.5 mm. Theentire length of the tube 114 is enclosed within an outer cylindricalhousing 115 of a vapour-impermeable material, the tube extending axiallyalong the centre of the housing. The space between the outside of thetubing 114 and the inside of the housing 115 is filled with a material116 that readily adsorbs the vapour produced. In the present example,the material is in the form of charcoal granules 116, which areeffective to adsorb acetone vapour. The tube 114 is surrounded on allsides by the adsorbent charcoal granules 16 and its outlet end connectswith the vapour outlet 103.

The bore, length, wall thickness and material of the tube 114 are chosensuch that, under zero flow conditions, the amount of vapour that escapesfrom the outlet end of the tube is insignificant in the context of theapplication in which the vapour generator is used.

Instead of the airflow generator being at the inlet of the vapourchamber to pump air into the chamber, the airflow generator could beconnected downstream of the vapour chamber and be arranged to suck airinto the chamber. The airflow generator could be connected between theoutlet of the vapour chamber and the inlet end of the adsorbent passage,or it could be connected downstream of the adsorbent passage, at theoutlet end of the passage. The disadvantage of this alternativearrangement is that the airflow generator would be exposed to the vapourbut this might not matter in some applications.

The generator could include a pneumatic valve connected to block flow ofvapour from the vapour chamber to the adsorbent passage until vapourflow was needed. This would have the advantage of preventing continualadsorption of the vapour into the adsorbent material and lengthen thelife of both the vapour chamber and the adsorbent material. Theadsorbent passage would only have to trap vapour that permeates throughthe valve seal so, with this arrangement, there would be a lower rate ofdiffusion and the length of the adsorbent passage could be reduced.

A second adsorbent arrangement could be connected between the inlet ofthe vapour chamber and the airflow generator to prevent vapour from thechamber passing to the airflow generator in significant quantities whenthe flow was off. A pneumatic valve could be connected between thissecond adsorbent passage and the vapour chamber, the valve beingmaintained closed until flow was required.

The whole arrangement of the vapour chamber, adsorbent passages andvalves could be buried in a bed of charcoal or other adsorbent materialto ensure that vapour could not escape from the apparatus in the offstate.

The arrangement of the present invention provides a very efficienttrapping of vapour. The vapour generator is not confined to use indoping detectors but could be used in other applications. For example,the vapour generator could be used to provide a periodic internalcalibrant material in a detection system. The detection system could bean IMS detector, gas chromatograph system, mass spectrometer or othersystem. The generator could be used for calibration or testing of otherdetectors, filters or the like.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a vapor adsorbent passage configured to receive air that includes a dopant vapor usable to aid in identification of an unknown substance, wherein, when the apparatus is in an on configuration, the vapor adsorbent passage allows the dopant vapor to flow through the passage at a velocity such that at least some of the dopant vapor flows out of the vapor adsorbent passage, and wherein, when the apparatus is in an off configuration, the vapor adsorbent passage adsorbs substantially all dopant vapor that drifts into the vapor adsorbent passage, such that substantially no dopant vapor flows out of the vapor adsorbent passage.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vapor adsorbent passage is configured to operate at ambient conditions.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vapor adsorbent passage includes carbon or a sintered material.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vapor adsorbent passage includes molecular sieve material.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an airflow generator configured to generate a flow of air through the vapor adsorbent passage.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vapor adsorbent passage is configured to deliver a pulse of the dopant vapor in the on configuration.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein in the off configuration, any dopant that exits from the vapor passage is insufficient for a detector to detect a noticeable ion peak associated with the dopant.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vapor passage in an on configuration is configured to dope a first region of an ion-mobility spectrometry device without doping a second region of the ion-mobility spectrometry device.
 9. An apparatus comprising: a vapor passage configured to adsorb a dopant usable to aid in identification of an unknown substance, the vapor passage being operable to flow air that includes the unknown substance and the dopant to a detector in an on configuration and substantially prevent dopant from desorbing from the vapor passage in an off configuration wherein the vapor passage comprises a vapor-permeable elastic tubing.
 10. A method comprising: providing a vapor generator comprising: a vapor chamber configured to produce a dopant vapor usable to aid in identification of an unknown substance, and a vapor adsorbent passage connected to the vapor chamber in a manner such that air that includes the dopant vapor is passable from the vapor chamber to the vapor adsorbent passage; placing the vapor generator in an on configuration in which the vapor adsorbent passage allows the dopant vapor to flow through the passage at a velocity such that at least some of the dopant vapor flows out of the vapor adsorbent passage, and placing the vapor generator in an off configuration in which the vapor adsorbent passage adsorbs substantially all dopant vapor that drifts into the vapor adsorbent passage from the vapor chamber, such that substantially no dopant vapor flows out of the vapor adsorbent passage.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the flow of air through the vapor adsorbent passage is rapidly terminable by ceasing operation of an airflow generator, so as to provide power savings when the vapor is not needed.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the flow of air through the vapor adsorbent passage) The method of claim 10, wherein the vapor adsorbent passage is configured to operate at ambient conditions.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein the vapor adsorbent passage includes carbon or a sintered material.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein the vapor adsorbent passage includes molecular sieve material.
 15. The method of claim 10, wherein the vapor adsorbent passage is placed in the on configuration by generating a flow of air through the vapor adsorbent passage, and the vapor adsorbent passage is placed in the off configuration by terminating the flow of air through the vapor adsorbent passage.
 16. The method of claim 10, further comprising delivering a pulse of the dopant vapor during the operation of the vapor adsorbent passage.
 17. The method of claim 10, when the operation of the vapor adsorbent passage is terminated, any dopant that exits from the vapor adsorbent passage is insufficient for a detector to detect a noticeable ion peak associated with the dopant.
 18. The method of claim 10, wherein the vapor passage in an on configuration is configured to dope a first region of an ion-mobility spectrometry device without doping a second region of the ion-mobility spectrometry device.
 19. A method comprising: operating a vapor passage to flow air that includes an unknown substance and a dopant to a detector; and terminating operation of the vapor passage to prevent dopant from desorbing from the vapor passage, wherein the vapor passage comprises a vapor-permeable elastic tubing.
 20. A system comprising: an ion-mobility spectrometry device; and a vapor generator comprising: a vapor chamber configured to produce a dopant vapor usable to aid in identification of an unknown substance, a vapor adsorbent passage connected to the vapor chamber in a manner such that air that includes the dopant vapor is passable from the vapor chamber to the vapor adsorbent passage, and an airflow generator configured to pulse the flow of air through the vapor passage, wherein, when the vapor generator is in an on configuration, the vapor adsorbent passage allows the dopant vapor to flow through the passage at a velocity such that at least some of the dopant vapor flows out of the vapor adsorbent passage to the ion-mobility spectrometry device, and wherein, when the vapor generator is in an off configuration, the vapor adsorbent passage adsorbs substantially all dopant vapor that drifts into the vapor adsorbent passage from the vapor chamber, such that substantially no dopant vapor flows out of the vapor adsorbent passage to the ion-mobility spectrometry device.
 21. The system of claim 20, wherein the flow of air through the vapor adsorbent passage is rapidly stoppable by ceasing operation of the airflow generator, so as to provide power savings when the flow of air is not needed in the ion-mobility spectrometry device.
 22. The system of claim 20, wherein the vapor adsorbent passage is configured to operate at ambient conditions.
 23. The system of claim 20, wherein the vapor adsorbent passage includes carbon or a sintered material.
 24. The system of claim 20, wherein the vapor adsorbent passage includes molecular sieve material.
 25. The system of claim 20, wherein in the off configuration, any dopant that exits from the vapor adsorbent passage is insufficient for the ion-mobility spectrometry device to detect a noticeable ion peak associated with the dopant.
 26. The system of claim 20, wherein the vapor adsorbent passage in an on configuration is configured to dope a first region of the ion-mobility spectrometry device without doping a second region of the ion-mobility spectrometry device.
 27. The system of claim 20, wherein the vapor adsorbent passage is separated from the vapor chamber by a valve that is selectively operable to block a flow of air from the vapor chamber to the vapor adsorbent passage.
 28. A system comprising: an ion-mobility spectrometry device; a vapor passage configured to adsorb a dopant usable to aid in identification of an unknown substance, the vapor passage being operable to flow air that includes the unknown substance and the dopant to the ion-mobility spectrometry device in an on configuration and substantially prevent dopant from desorbing from the vapor passage in an off configuration; and an airflow generator configured to pulse the flow of air through the vapor passage, wherein the vapor passage comprises a vapor-permeable elastic tubing. 